


she

by ashleyblake



Category: Shawn Mendes (Musician)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28495872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleyblake/pseuds/ashleyblake
Summary: shawn is a professor at university and is in the middle of a divorce with his wife, and mother of their 2 daughters. y/n is a student and dances at a strip club to pay for her tuition. the two somehow meet and are infatuated with each other immediately, until they find out shawn is her teacher.
Relationships: Shawn Mendes & Reader, Shawn Mendes/You
Kudos: 1





	she

It was Thursday.

Y/N stepped out of her shower. Her bathroom walls were dewy, she blew off her candle whose flame was giving the room an orangey glow. She wrapped herself in her towel and turned on the light switches. The bathroom went from dim and brooding to brightly, crisply illuminated. She needed the lighting to do her makeup. She dried her face and dipped her finger in her moisturizing gel. Once her skin refreshed and preserved, she tied her hair back and stared at her reflection. She took the cap off her pink lipstick and puckered her lips.

To Y/N, Thursdays were the first little hill of the Everest she had to climb every weekend. She balanced two jobs, and both got extremely busy as Friday and Saturday nights creeped around the corner. It tired her, but she wasn’t going to complain. It was her last weekend before the semester at uni started, and she was counting on bringing in the most money before the pressure of school would hit her.

Y/N smoothed the front of her clothes and looked back at her reflection, satisfied. She figured a high ballerina bun would best compliment the neckline of her shirt and proceeded to flip her hair to begin to tie it. She didn’t love that a good appearance helped increase the amount of tips she would receive, but she wasn’t complaining.

She threw her coat on and grabbed her big duffle bag.

Shawn had a feeling he was going to love Thursdays. He used to hate them, because his wife had a late class and he’d have to be with the kids without her. But then summer came, and the deafening silence and space between them was expressed. Just expressing their mutual wish for a divorce made Shawn feel more free. And so, this semester, whether coincidental or not, he decided to teach more afternoon classes and his wife, more evening ones. He was free this last Thursday of August and his wife was at a meeting.

“Why don’t we go to Hubert’s tonight guys?” He piped up at the dining table. His 7 and 9 year-old daughters leaped in joy. He smiled widely, relishing the moment as he distantly watched his so dearly loved kids tidy up their toys.

Hubert’s was a quaint, cozy restaurant that was a favourite for families. Y/N loved waitressing there. She loved seeing kids enjoy their meals with their families, making them giggle, and giving warm friendly service for often some generous tipping. She mostly worked weeknights, the occasional lunch shift, and it was okay money. Not great. Not enough for a financially independent 21 year old student. She had rent to cover, tuition, food, every kind of living bill imaginable, and she loved the occasional indulgence. Which is why she picked up her second job at the club.

Thursdays were the toughest though. She got to the restaurant at 5:30, dressed cute and clean, worked until 9:30, then rushed downtown to the club.

“Hi babe.” Cloe kissed Y/N’s cheek as she saw her best friend walk into the back of the restaurant.

“Busy tonight?” Y/N put her stuff down in the staff room, taking off her coat and fixed her hair.

“It’s pretty good for a Thursday, actually. You hungry?”

“Am I a person?” Y/N scoffed, following her friend into the kitchen. 

“Don’t touch anything!” Cloe threw her tall chef’s hat back on and pulled out a clean spoon, dipping it in a large pot. “Over the sink.”

Y/N rolled her eyes at her friend, taking the spoon and licking it clean over the industrial sink.

“Oh my god. It’s so good, you’re a genius.” She groaned, throwing the spoon into the soapy water.

“I know.” Her friend winked. “It’s the new soup, part of the autumn specials menu.”

“God, I’m the luckiest person in the world to have a chef as a roommate.” Y/N chuckled. “When do you finish tonight?”

“Midnight. I know, it’s late but the sous-chef is looking to promote someone and I’m tired of only being in charge of the soup station.”

“I’ll try my best to sell the soups on the floor tonight.” 

“You’re the best.” Cloe gives her a quick squeeze, before a tap on the counter is heard.

“Y/N, stop vulturing over extras, get out there.” Martin, the manager rushed her out, handing her her notepad.

“Wasn’t vulturing! Tasted the new soup.” She grinned at her boss.

“By the way, Cloe, Kian is sick, so you’re second sauce chef tonight too.”

Y/N gave her friend a big thumbs up and mouthed a “Way to go!” before Martin turned around with his hands on his hips and she fixed her skirt and hurried out.

“You’re zone 5.” The hostess told Y/N.

“5? But, Brittany, Martin literally has me glued to 6, families love me.”

“Yeah, well it’s time to give other people a turn. I changed it.”

“Other people? You know the other waiters can’t deal with kids and are annoyed with the cheaper orders.” Y/N crossed her arms.

Y/N was a great server at Hubert’s. She always showed up earlier than her shift time, she was the warmest and gave the friendliest service. She genuinely cared about the families she served, and that’s how she made good tips.

“Well, you always seem to make the most tips, so we should give the family tables to other people from time to time.” Brittany answered, turning away from her. Y/N huffed. Some bitches really can’t hide their jealousy, or their stupidity either.

Shawn clicked his key to lock the car and walked through the parking lot to the restaurant, holding his daughters hands, one on each side of him. 

“I’m going to get the wrap!” His younger daughter Kaia said.

“I want the brownie! What about you, daddy?” River, the elder daughter, asked.

Shawn chuckled. “I don’t know yet bubs, we’ll check out the menu together yeah?”

“I hope the nice waitress is working today.” Kaia hums.

“Nice waitress?” Shawn asked.

“Yeah. Mom brought us and we always got the same lady who served us was so nice. She drew me a flower once.”

Shawn didn’t know his wife took the kids out often without him.

“Oh yeah! She brought my unicorn his own plate too.” River said, shaking the stuffed animal she brought everywhere.

“Of course, she did. What did your unicorn have to eat?” Shawn asked as they waited to be seated, keeping his daughters distracted from the wait while keeping an eye on the hostess.

“That’s bullshit, you know the kids meals cost the least. I make tips on my service, not the percentages.” Y/N crossed her arms, eyebrows furrowing.

Shawn looked up at the sound of an agitated voice and saw a young woman, crossing her arms, annoyance flashed across her face.

He found her quite pretty. Her cheekbones were flushed pink, probably from her frustration, her lips had a sort of pink hue on them and were pouted, again, probably from her discontentment. 

“Jeez, Y/N, stop being such a gold digger and work zone 5 for once. It won’t kill you to make less money one night.”

“Wow. I’ll make even more tonight, bro. Everyone knows 6 pays the least, I actually genuinely enjoy the customers.” Y/N said. Without looking at the line, she turned away, shoulders back.

“That’s her!” Kaia hissed. Shawn took her little hand and put down her index finger, and kept her hand in his much bigger one.

“Don’t point, love.”

“Oops, sorry daddy.” She giggled up at him.

“Hi, sorry for the wait. Table for 3? Come with me.” Brittany greeted them, grabbing 3 menus and steering them to a table. “Enjoy.”

“Dude, why do I got the kids tonight?” A server Ethan intercepted Y/N as she was holding two cocktails.

“Brit’s in a mood, I don’t know.” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Hey, be nice.” She looked at him mock-sternly. 

“Bruh, their whole entrées are going to cost as much as those drinks.” 

“So, you’ll just have less to spend on porn this month.” Y/N stuck out her tongue at him.

Ethan laughed, nudging her with his shoulder.

“Bro, watch it, I have drinks.” Y/N exclaimed. She walked to her table laughing, putting down the two glasses with a smile. “Here you are. Is this lovely couple ready to order?” She said, pulling out her pen and pad.

Across the room, Shawn sat down comfortably and opened his menu. “What are you guys getting, girls?”

“The wrap! The wrap!”

“I want the animal nuggets. They come in a cardboard car.”

“Sounds good.” He said, perusing through the menu. “We also need to get us some veggies, don’t you think? Get all the vitamins in our tummies.”

Ethan took their orders and menus. The restaurant was full now, and the buzz and clink of utensils filled the air. Cloe was fast at work in the kitchen, and the waiters all were speed-walking, zooming in between tables to get customers what they needed.

“Daddy, can we get crayons please?” River asked as they waited.

“Hmm, dunno bub.” He looked around and saw their waiter scurrying around and politely gestured at him.

Y/N returned three empty plates to the kitchen, and rested her hip on the counter, taking a sip of water. She saw Ethan search the hostess stand, furrowing around for something.

She laughed. “The crayons are in the third drawer.”

“Thanks.” Ethan looked at her, and grabbed a couple quickly.

“Chicken cacciatore, duck confit and saffron squash soup.”

“That is me.” Y/N turned around, gathering the dishes. “Looks great, you guys.” She said to the chefs before setting off, picking up a purple and pink crayon on her way. Doofus, she thought, seeing that Ethan grabbed three browns by accident.

“Hi cuties.” Y/N beamed at Kaia and River who paused at their drawings to wave at her when they spotted her. She turned to the table around the corner to set down their meals.

Shawn watched her absent-mindedly. It must be quite chaotic doing her job, as he noticed small strands of hair had loosened from her bun, wispy pieces fell over her forehead. He softly admired her silhouette, how elegantly she carried herself, how straight she kept her neck and back as she walked fast across the restaurant. A little bit behind her ear, a small black tattoo of a rose was visible, outlining the curve of her neck. She wore all black and all her skin was covered, but very subtly he could see the shape of her shoulders, her waist and her legs covered by her skirt. She was definitely young, maybe fresh into her twenties, which was around the time Shawn first had his kids. He had them very young. He stopped his train of thought. Although he wasn’t old, being a father and professor still made him think he was. His eyes were still on her, and she was getting closer.

“I thought I’d bring you guys some better colours.” Y/N winked at the girls and set down the purple and pink crayon.

“Thanks!” They exclaimed, dropping the brown ones in their hands and reaching for them.

Y/N giggled at how cute they were and turned towards Shawn, smiling.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” Shawn smiled, his heart thumping when they made eye contact.

“Um, you must be their dad. I met your wife when she was here before, um, Sandra am I right?”

“Yes, you are quite correct. I’m Shawn.” He said, reaching his hand forward.

“Pleasure, oh okay, we’re shaking hands-“ Y/N mumbled awkwardly and placed her hand in his. She looked in his eyes once again and stayed there for a fraction too long before pulling back. “Well, let me know if you guys need anything, you’ll see me walking around.” Y/N looked down and tucked some of her loose hair behind her ears, her cheeks pinkening by the second. 

“Actually, there is one thing love, if you don’t mind.”

Y/N felt her spine tingle at the nickname.

“We ordered a salad as an appetizer, would it be possible to cancel it? If it’s not too much trouble?” Shawn asked, looking at her again as his daughters whispered a little “yes!”.

“Of course, that won’t be a problem.” Y/N nodded quickly, her eyes getting captured by his once again.

“I was trying to get some greens inside these two, but they haven’t stopped complaining since I ordered it.” Shawn chuckled, turning to his kids for a second.

“Of course.” Y/N nodded again. All her experience in service seemed to go out the window. Say something other than ‘of course’, you dumbass. “Hey, you know we have a great selection of soups and pottages too. There’s loads of vegetables in them, like our squash one, and it’s blended so they’ll never know.” She smiled warmly.

“That sounds great, we’ll have one. Thank you so much.” Shawn beamed and Y/N walked away.

Y/N let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding and felt her back had gotten all sweaty. She hadn’t gotten this nervous around a guy since high school, when she harbored a crush on her science teacher. She’d sweat buckets each time she raised her hand. Thank God, he’s just a customer and not like my professor or something, she thought.

The evening carried on quite nicely, Y/N hadn’t had to deal with any rude customers. She delivered check after check to satisfied, satiated customers and some were on expensive dates, tipping her accordingly. Still, it wasn’t enough to make a living though.

“Y/N, I’m exhausted. I wanna go back to just chopping vegetables.” Cloe bent over to talk to Y/N. 

“But you’re doing so well.” Y/N laughed, dabbing her friend’s sweaty forehead with a napkin. 

“Are people liking my soup at least?” Cloe whined, and picked up her knife to start dicing again.

“Oh, yes they are! I see people dipping stuff in their sauce a lot too.”

“Yay! I gotta tell you, the other sauce chef is utterly incompetent, I’ve been carrying that bitch’s ass all night.”

“I’m sure the head chef will see that, babe.”

Y/N walked around, handing out some “is everything okay here?” to the tables she passed, zoomed back and forth between the registers and the kitchen, laughed heartily at jokes that were not funny as she waited for people to sign the checks. She did on purpose to set her route around the restaurant just so it happens she would pass by Shawn’s table often. She’d give him a shy smile, and each time she was back to him, she felt like his eyes might have been on her. But that was probably her stupid imagination, she thought.

“Yo, Y/N can you cover for me, I need to piss so fucking bad.” Ethan brushed past her hurriedly, squeezing her shoulder quickly.

She laughed and scanned the orders for anything with his name at the bottom and picked up two ice cream sundaes. She walked to Kaia and River’s table and set them down, but only Shawn was there.

Shawn looked up and smiled to see it was Y/N. “Ah, thanks. The girls went to the bathroom. They insisted on going alone to prove to me they were ‘grown-ups’.”

“That’s adorable. How was your meal?”

“It was quite good, actually. The girls loved the soup, so thanks love for that.” He looked at her. He couldn’t help but stare, she was just very beautiful. All evening, he’d warm up each time she brushed past their table, giving him and the girls are toothy smile.

“Oh yay, that’s great! Did you want anything for yourself, by the way?” Her brows furrowed.

“No, no thank you. I’ll just steal some of their ice cream.” He chuckled, Y/N enjoying the sound of his laugh.

“Okay, well have a beautiful night, sir.”

“Shawn. Just Shawn’s fine.”

“Oh, right sorry. Shawn.” Y/N said. 

He quite liked the sound of her saying his own name. “I never got your name, by the way - miss?”

“Y/N. You can just call me Y/N.” She smiled again, before she heard four little feet scramble back towards the table. “Dessert’s here!” She wiggled her eyebrows at them, and walked away from the table after bidding them a final good evening.

“105$ right on the money. How much you got, Ethan?” Y/N said in the locker room, dipping her fries into sauce.

“Fucking 90,78$.” He sighed, leaning back into his chair.

“See, Britt?” Y/N eyed the hostess who was merely shrugging and sucking on a mint.

“Whatever.”

“You actually got about 100 after that though.” Ethan said, stealing a fry.

“Mhm, worth it.” Y/N finished her coffee and checked her phone. 9:45 PM. “Well y’all, I’m off, Martin’s already stopped paying me about 15 minutes ago.”

“Just write 45 on the timesheet, who cares?” Brittany puffed.

“Nah, I feel bad charging him for me sitting on my ass eating his food.” She tied her coat and picked up her big bag. On the way out, she passed by the kitchen. “Going to the club, babe I’ll see you in the morning!” She yelled to Cloe, who blew her a quick kiss.

“Thank God for coffee.” Y/N sighed to herself, leaning her head back into her seat as she drove, pulling into the parking lot of the strip club.

Y/N loved the strip club. She had gotten into the industry by accident, but ever since her first big night, she would never quit now that she knew she could make up to a thousand a night by merely being a flirt. She hated the bad rep strippers got. Sometimes, when she told people she stripped on the side, they’d draw back disgustedly, associating her with prostitution. Her job literally had nothing to do with prostitution, though. She was there to just look sexy, dance, make good conversation with guys and fulfill their fantasy of ‘the dreamy woman’. Girls got sexualized by men wherever they went, might as well take their money.

She went through the two heavy double-doors, waved at the security guys and made her way through the club to the employees-and-entertainers section. The stage was already pretty covered in money and a lot of the girls had gotten themselves dances. 

“Why don’t we see what’s underneath that blouse, doll?” A man winked at her when she walked by his seat. Y/N gagged on the inside, but smirked at him and threw her duffle bag on her other shoulder to block him from her sight.

“Always pushing it a bit late, honey.” The house mom Mia greeted Y/N with a hug when she entered the locker room, before returning to her seat where she was sewing up a dress.

“I just got off at the restaurant. How are you, M?” Y/N huffed, dropping her bag on her usual seat and started on her makeup. She looked at herself in the big mirror with the hot lightbulbs all around, turning her natural look to a smoky one. She dragged out a long winged liner, glued on thick lashes and traced her lips, replacing the pink with a dark red.

“It’s already so busy out there, babe, you’ve got to get going.” Mia rolled her eyes, getting up from her seat to go behind Y/N. “Scooch.”

She undid Y/N’s bun, let her hair cascade down before brushing out the knots and taking the curling iron from the corner to give her some soft waves.

“You’re the bestttt house mom ever.” Y/N smiled cheekily up at Mia’s reflection, who shook her head but smiled back, giving her girl a big spray of hairspray.

“Now hurry up! DJ’s waiting.”

“I just gotta change!” Y/N yelped as Mia pulled out her chair from behind her, stripping out of her waitress attire. “Can you go check me in?”

“The usual set?”

“Yeah, thank you so much!” Y/N yelled from the lockers as Mia swung open the door to go let the DJ know Y/N arrived and to put her on rotation.

Y/N sucked in her stomach as she double-checked her look in the mirror, adjusting the straps of her tiny dress. Popping two breath mints, she rushed outside as quick as she could in the skyscraper-high heels.

“Hey, you next.” The DJ said as he spotted Y/N.

“Thanks Seb.”

Y/N smiled at a few of her friends and watched the girl on main stage finish her set. She gave her some time to clean up all her bills before she climbed up the shiny steps and stepped onto the stage. 

She did her thing, giving the guys who were extra excited to see her a little extra view of her ass. She basked in the spotlight, loving channelling her stripper alter-ego. She danced til the end of her two songs, then stepped down. She walked through the club, reeling in the stares of a bunch of guys and tried her best to keep their attention long enough they’d pay for a dance with her.

Back in the suburban part of the city, Shawn tucked his daughters into bed and kissed them softly on the forehead. He strolled back down to the living room, where he sat on the sofa and started softly playing some guitar. The front door opened and Sandra came home.

“Hey.” She opened her bag and pulled out an envelope. “I filed the divorce petition today.”

“Oh. I thought we’d wait and go together?”

“It’s fine, there’s no use for that, it was on my way anyway. The girls are upstairs?”

“Yeah.” Shawn said weakly as he slumped back on the couch, Sandra walking up the stairs before he even answered.

He went to bed. As he crawled into bed, his silky pajamas softly coating his skin, he hummed a soft song. He thought of the nice dinner he had with his daughters tonight and vaguely remembered Y/N. He drifted to sleep, head cloudy with dreams of a woman dressed in black and a small tattoo of a rose.

+

“He’s MARRIED! And from what you’ve said, has two kids!” Cloe slapped Y/N’s shoulder from her chair.

It was Friday evening. Y/N’s shifts at the restaurant were all weekdays until Friday, and it was Cloe’s night off of the week. They loved Fridays, it became their weekly ritual to get junky drive-through and set off for the club early to take their sweet ass time getting ready for the night.

Y/N attempted to slap her friend back, but quickly leaned back forward as she almost fell off the counter she was sat on. She loved to do this when the lockers weren’t crowded, so she can inch her face as close to the mirror as possible.

“What the fuck is this I hear? Y/N’s going after a married guy?” Another dancer chimed in as she walked through the door and plopped onto a chair next to Cloe.

“I’m not. I love your shirt, babe.” Y/N greeted her. “Cloe, is this ugly?” She turned towards her friend as she held her hair high up in a ponytail. Cloe shook her head and Y/N proceeded to tie it tightly.

“So, who is this guy hmm?” Cloe leaned closer and opened their paper bag of fries.

“No clue.” Y/N scoffed as she got up to go grab some gel from the house mom’s table. “All I know is he has two daughters and I’ve served their mom a couple times.” She continued, hopping back on the counter and sleeking her ponytail.

“Your taste in men is quite something.” Cloe laughed, hugging Mia as she came into the room.

“Cloe! Nice to see you sweetheart. I miss you here -“, she leaned in and whispered, “the other girls don’t do it like you do.”

“I know Mama, but the restaurant is really going well now.”

“I know, I know, you a big chef master cook now, you’re too big to bartend.”

“You’re so dramatic, M.” Y/N laughed as she turned her head and covered her tattoo with some heavy-duty foundation. “I’m still here all weekend!”

“Right, like you’re any use.” Mia rolled her eyes, slapping Y/N’s butt as she stuck out her tongue to Cloe and laughed with her at Y/N’s offended look.

“Girls, I brought you guys cookies by the way! They’re snickerdoodle, finish them please so my husband doesn’t eat any more.” Mia shouted at the locker room that has filled up with girls.

“Thanks mom!” 

“You shouldn’t have!”

“Miaa, you’re gonna make me fat I can’t!”

“Everyone is going to eat a fucking cookie.” Cloe shouted back to the girls and passed the container to Y/N, who forced a cookie in each girl’s hand.

It was half past 8 and the locker room was scorching hot, filled with girls, mountains of makeup, heaps of clothes and the sounds of gossiping, singing, heels clicking. The warm lightbulbs on the mirrors burned, and the room filled with various smells of hairspray, lotions and perfumes.

“No, but seriously, don’t even try.” Y/N shook her head as she watched Cloe put mousse in her hair, her feet up on the counter, sat comfortably in a chair while finishing off her burger. “Your mom is literally mentally unstable, so trying to reason with her is completely useless. How’s your sister?”

“She’s okay. She just wants to get out of the house so bad.” Cloe sighed, standing back and turning towards Y/N. 

“I understand that, but she’s still too young babe.” Y/N walked with Cloe to the sink to wash her hands and they unwrapped some single-use toothbrushes.

“She’s got to wait two years ’til she’s legal. She got any savings?” Y/N eyed her friend as they both brushed their teeth.

“Barely. But I have some for her. It all depends where she’s going to go for uni.” Cloe answered, spitting into the sink and rinsed her mouth.

“Well, hey, no matter what happens she can crash at ours for literally as long as she wants.” Y/N put a hand on her friend’s shoulder and gave her a quick squeeze.

The strip club wasn’t the greatest environment to make friends, so when Y/N and Cloe first started, they mostly kept to themselves. They had no idea how nasty the girls could get, and preferred not figuring out. Everyone knew they were like sisters to each other, the bartenders knew Y/N through Cloe, and the dancers knew Cloe through Y/N.

“I just hate this, I hate this, I hate this.” Y/N sat down to tie her heels. “I fall in love with complete strangers. I can’t stop thinking about Shawn, even though there is no fucking way, anything would ever happen.”

“Your daddy issues are showing.” Cloe smirked, fixing her bowtie in the mirror.

“Shut up. I don’t know, he’s just so dreamy.” Y/N sighed. “His eyes are so cute, and when we shook his hands, his hand was so strong-“

“Y/N. Babe, listen, I love you, and I will support whoever you date. But you’ve met him once. So, get up, remember who the fuck you are, and let’s go make some money!” Cloe helped her friend stand up in her heels.

“I love you.” Y/N kissed her hair and checked their outfits one last time in the mirror. “You know, the bartenders’ uniforms are so fucking cute, why can’t I have a black bodysuit like that?”

“Anyways, I SAID-“ Cloe yelled out right in front of the door.

“ARE WE GONNA MAKE SOME MONEY TONIGHT?” Y/N joined in and the rest of the girls yelled out in unison, hyped up.

The two stepped out onto the dark, neon-lit club floor and started their night.

+

“A strip club?” Shawn laughed incredulously, leaning back into his chair.

“Yeah man, you’ve never been to one?” His colleague on the phone chuckled.

“I had kids real young dude.” He lowered his voice, Sandra was in the kitchen with the girls.

“You’ve missed out! You’re missing out. Come with me and the guys tonight, we always go right before the semester starts. It’ll be so much fun, you’ll see.”

Shawn had never felt more weird in his life. All his friends were either older and lonely, mostly professors from the university. The ones closer to his age were either single and stuck in the frat boy phase or casually dating. It’s not like he was old, he was 30. His life had just taken weird turns when he got married first among everyone he knew at 21, gave birth to his first daughter at 22. His 20s went by fast, and he didn’t live the true clubbing scene, let along the strip clubbing scene.

“Alright, alright. I’ll come pick you up around 10.”

“You going out tonight?” Sandra asked him, not looking up from her book.

“Yeah, is that alright?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sandra looked up at him, and lowered her glasses.

Sometimes, Shawn felt like there was still a bit of love between them, a tiny sliver of that fiery initial spark. Life has thrown them so many hardships though, and through all their struggles, they deeply hurt each other. It was too hard for both of them to see past it now. Once meant for each other, they had grown toxic.

“Have fun.”

+

Y/N stroked the man’s arm one last time.

“Well, I hope you had a great time. Next time you’re here, look for me.” She whispered in his ear and tied two twenties to the garter on her thigh. She gave the DJ a thumbs up and walked to the bar.

“You good?” Cloe asked from behind the counter.

“Yeah, that guy just smelled so fucking strong of cologne.” Y/N crinkled her nose. “You got space in your fanny pack?”

“Always.” Cloe said, handing a customer two beers and accepted her tip.

“Thanks. That’s 100.” Y/N quickly untied her bills from her garter and handed them to her friend. Cloe shoved them into her bag along with her own tips.

“Not too bad, miss!”

“You either!”

“Dude you’re next by the way.”

“Oh shit, fuck. I still get nervous every time.”

“You’ll be great Y/N, now go!”

Shawn and his friends stumbled into the club, a couple of the guys already quite tipsy. The club had tons of leather seats and loud music played. Everywhere, there were girls in sparkling heels walking around.

“Let’s go get seats by the stage.” Tom, one of Shawn’s friends, said.

They all managed to find available chairs next to the stage just as a song ended.

“Alright, ladies and gents, make some noise, next is miss ROSE!”

“Ooh fuck, she’s a good one.” Peter and Tom said excitedly, giving Shawn a couple single bills. “Here, you’ll wanna use these.”

Y/N pulled on her ponytail and walked up the stairs. _Stripper alter-ego, let’s go._

Shawn, uncomfortable at first, soon became mesmerized by the dancer that appeared onstage. 

Y/N moved her hips, sliding her back down the pole. She arched her back, leaning her head towards the side as she let her hand trail in between her breasts, down her stomach and in between her thighs.

Tom beside Shawn woo’ed and threw a couple bills onto the stage. Shawn sat, leaned back into his chair and held his breath slightly. His eyes drowned in the sight of Y/N, trailing all over her body and moved to focus on different parts.

Y/N smiled at the shower of bills and stood back up, heading to a side of the stage. It was going pretty well, on some nights she wouldn’t make any money from stage at all.

She clutched her shoulders and began sliding the straps of her dress down. This got her a couple more bills and she bent forward to take the top off. Again, more money thrown. Nice.

Grabbing a hold of the pole, she swung herself around it.

Shawn watched her in her bra and skirt. As he concentrated more on her legs, he wondered if he had seen her somewhere before. It was somewhat dark and she was facing back to him, so he didn’t get a good look at her face yet.

Y/N turned towards the other side of the stage. She smiled and turned on her toes, bending forward to slip her skirt off, sticking her ass out.

Shawn crossed his legs uncomfortably. He had gotten hard, and his head filled with things he would do to a beautiful woman like that. The blood had rushed to his cock, and he wasn’t sure how long he could manage before he absolutely needed to to lock himself in the bathroom to jerk off. The guys all whooped and threw the rest of their bills at her, Peter snatching the ones in Shawn’s hands. Y/N sunk onto her knees and spotted an eager customer. She crawled towards him and blew him a kiss, her arms pushing her boobs together. Peter leaned towards her to insert his money into her bra strap and she winked before sitting back on her heels.

Shawn’s eyes wandered from her thighs to her hips, up to her stomach, collarbones and face. His mouth opened slightly. Was that Y/N? She looked different though, her eyes were hooded by long eyelashes and her lips were painted a dark, deep red. She looked nothing like the waitress from last night, but at the same time, Shawn would be able to recognize her facial structure anywhere.

Y/N looked slightly beside her customer and her eyes widened for a second, before she batted her lashes closed and quickly rolled away. Her ears started ringing and she stood on all fours, shaking her butt until her set finished. She swept up her money, cleaned the pole and sped-walked to the locker room.

“Holy shit.” She said, taking a seat in front of a mirror. “That was not him, that was _not_ him.” She looked up at her reflection to see her cheeks were burning red. She took deep breaths. “Okay, so?” She talked to herself. “You are not Y/N, you are Rose. He is just another customer. You are here to make money to pay for school. You can do. Anything.”

“That was a little cheesy.” Mia cocked her eyebrow at her.

“Jesus, you scared me. Yeah, I agree I should’ve just stopped after the school thing. Whatchu up to?”

“Cleaning the mirrors.” Mia laughed. “You gonna head on back out there soon, sweetie?”

Y/N nodded.

“So?” Tom elbowed Shawn. “How hot was she?”

“Yeah, very.” Shawn scratched the back of his neck. He was still not over the slight shock that the sexiest woman he’d ever seen was the sweet, cute Y/N who served half of his dinner the previous night. That still didn’t take away the fact that he was close to cumming in his pants. He was more attracted to her than ever, which was so wrong.

“You should get one.” His friend gestured at a dancer who was getting ready to give him a lap dance.

Y/N stepped back out and straightened her dress. She had lost sight of where Shawn was and had gotten approached by other men. She hovered over one’s lap, rolling her hips lazily.

Shawn was merely watching the stage, and decided to get up to go get another drink, all his friends were busy. On the way, a girl caught his attention. She was grinding seductively on another guy and Shawn watched how her hips moved. He quickly realized it was Y/N and looked away. He felt like he was almost not deserving to look at her.

When he got back to his friends, he saw they were chattering excitedly.

“Bro, we got something for you!”

They guided him through the club into a glittery corridor and into a room where there was a bottle of champagne and a leather couch.

“W-what is this?” Shawn sputtered as he was pushed onto the seat.

“Half an hour. Your girl’s coming. Enjoy!” And they left.

“Y/N! Room 8.” Mia cornered Y/N as she got off stage a second time.

“Half an hour champagne room? Nice!” Cloe high-fived Y/N as the latter made her way to the VIP section.

She walked in and saw Shawn sitting on the couch. She gulped.

“Hi.” She said shyly.

She took a seat beside him on the couch, Shawn feeling hot again.

“You can call me Rose here.” She winked at him.

“Haha, right um, Rose, I’ve never been in one of these rooms before. What exactly do we do in these?” Shawn sputtered.

“Well, we talk for a bit. Have a drink… and a dance.” Y/N leaned in, stroking the back of his neck, her touch sending shivers across both of their skin.

They talked for a while. And it was honestly, wonderful. Y/N asked him what he did, they chatted vividly about what Shawn taught. Conversation was actually fluid and it almost felt - easy. Ten minutes were left to their room.

Y/N laughed with Shawn and touched his arm for the first time. She had such an interesting talk with him that she forgot she was at her job until now. However, feeling his arm underneath her hand brought her back to her physical reality. And her thoughts darkened as she stared at Shawn’s jawline, his lips, and eyes.

Shawn couldn’t speak at the physical touch. A part of him was screaming this was wrong, that she was younger. Another took in the shape of her waist and hips and wanted to rip the dress off her and sit her on his hard dick.

“I guess uh-“ Y/N eyed Shawn, taking in his shoulders, his abs poking out of his soft shirt and his long fingers. “I should give you a bit of what your friends paid for.”

She sat up and stared deeply back into Shawn’s eyes and got up. Shawn gulped.

Y/N began moving slowly, her body milked every beat of the music. She pulled the top of her dress over the top of her head, pushing her chest out slightly. Shawn clenched his jaw.

Y/N sunk slowly to the floor and spread her knees, giving Shawn a view of her flashy pink thong underneath. She heard him utter a soft “fuck” under his breath, and looked up to meet his expression. His gaze had hardened, and the look on his face made Y/N’s pussy clench slightly. He was so needy, it was taking everything in him not to get up and bury his face between her thighs. He wanted to taste her, he needed to know what she tasted like. He’d lick her so nicely and would eye up at her to see her face contorted in pleasure, hands pinning her hips down to stop her squirming.

Y/N laid back on the floor, lifting her hips to slide her skirt off. She turned to her side, tickling the thong that sat high on her hips and put her ass up in the air.

Shawn was losing it. He looked at the curve of her butt, mentally planting his hand on the smooth cheeks and giving her a good spank.

“Fuck, baby, come here.” Shawn said lowly.

Y/N couldn’t resist, he looked so domineering as he sat back, his head lazily rested on the arm he propped up. Their knees made contact with each other and Y/N mounted a leg on each side of him, sitting herself onto his lap. Shawn exhaled shakily as her barely covered pussy landed right on top of his hardness, who gave an involuntary twitch. Y/N moaned softly, Shawn’s eyes closed to the sound. She lifted herself and grinded her hips back and forth in the air, her arms leaning back onto his thick thighs to balance herself. He watched her upper body make waves so close to him and clenched his fists, fighting the urge, the need to trail his fingers down her sternum and cup her cute little pussy.

It was like Y/N thought the same as she brought her own hand down on her body, snaking it down to where her two thighs connected. She felt herself extremely wet beneath her underwear and blushed, looking back at Shawn, whose eyes pierced right through her. She stuck her tongue out and licked her top lip, and watched him lick his own lips and leaned forward to push her chest against his.

“Shit, beautiful, you look so good on me.” Shawn muttered.

She threw all caution to the wind, all rational thought to the window as she granted her body’s wishes and sat down onto him. Y/N leaned her head against his and ground down on his cock, feeling the friction right on her clit. Shawn’s heart thumped fast against hers to the sounds of her soft breathing in his ears. Her perfume was sweet, and he could smell how wet she was in her underwear. Her hand were running through his hair and it was to his surprise that she found his resting on his seat and placed them on her hips.

“You can touch me.” She whispered, moving her hips a little harder and faster on him.

“You sure?”

“Please. I need it.” Y/N whimpered out and his palms rubbed softly her bum, before lifting a hand and delivering a swat onto her left cheek. “Fuck.”

“You like that, kitten? Have to be quiet now, wouldn’t want to get caught would you?” Shawn looked at her, whose cheeks were pink with effort now. He couldn’t help but talk to her, her body moving irresistibly on his. He decided to just rest his hands on her hips. As heated as things had gotten, he still wanted to respect boundaries, or what was left of them anyway. Y/N had not stopped rubbing herself on his thigh and her breathing had gotten way more shallow. If circumstances were a bit different, Shawn would wrap both his arms around her waist tightly and trap her. He’d want to hear her plead to let her move again, he’d want to coax that orgasm out of her slowly.

“That feel good, princess? Are you going to cum for me?” He asked her. She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded, frantically moving her hips. 

“P-Please.” She moaned, opening her eyes wide and boring them into his.

Shawn smiled at her and pushed her down further onto his lip, bouncing his leg up and down to match her rhythm.

“You’re so cute.”

She let out a choked cry and rolled her shoulders back, trembling. Her body shook and her hips halted, her chest heaving quickly up and down as she bit her lip to muffle any sounds. Y/N felt her muscles release and sat back down, catching her breath.

_Fuck_ , she thought. _What did I just do?_ She opened her eyes to Shawn’s face and met his eyes again. He was looking back at her with the same intensity he had all night, and his forehead was slightly sweaty. His lips were spit-slicked from all the times he had to purse them together. 

Y/N thought of his cute laugh with his daughters, his caring figure, the way his eyes were lit up when they talked previously about school… Her eyes left his and looked at his lips, and ever so slightly, she leaned down to touch his with hers.

Shawn felt her plush lips graze his and as he felt her lean back, he leaned his head forward and captured them in between his. His tongue licked across her upper lip, she tasted sweet like champagne with a hint of mint. He felt her kiss him back and they kept their lips locked for a second before they both pulled away.

He smiled softly at her. Her hair was so tightly gelled, it remained intact as there were no strands fallen out.

“You’re beautiful.” He said, tickling his finger against her long eyelashes. She smiled and quickly got off of him, putting her dress back on. The compliment felt too heartfelt and her head started pounding.

“Have a beautiful night, see you next time, sir.” She said to him and swung the room door open, leaving Shawn panting slightly and extremely hard. 

+

Y/N gulped the last of her tea and rested it on the table. She sat on her living room couch beside Cloe, as they counted their money from the night.

“I um… have to tell you something.” 

Cloe looked at her friend suspiciously, setting down her bills. “You look guilty. What did you do? Did you text your ex, bitch I swear to-“

“No! Okay, so you know how I got a room tonight?”

“Yeah, how was the guy by the way?”

“The guy was… Shawn.”

Cloe nearly spat out her water.

“HOW WAS IT?”

“Well, we talked a lot actually. And it was so nice, like I felt so comfortable, and I wasn’t even like looking for words, or thinking ahead of topics to cover.”

“Right, right, and?”

“And… I gave him a lap dance.”

Cloe waited for the rest, knowing that couldn’t be all.

“And I sort of rode his thigh and…” Y/N pursed her lips and reddened feverishly. “Sort of… came.”

Cloe’s mouth was wide open, and she gulped for air like a fish, unable to close it. Y/N clapped her hand on her mouth, grinning.

“You’re insane.” Cloe finally said.

The pair ended their night by finishing tallying up their earnings, a whopping 1500$ between the two, laughing while washing their faces and going to sleep with _Friends_ playing in the background.

+

Shawn slid through the front door, trying to make as little noise as possible. He quickly made his way upstairs and straight into the shower.

He lathered soap, washing away the alcohol, strip-club scent off. He closed his eyes as he ran his fingers through his hair, scrubbing his scalp. Images of Y/N flashed sporadically in his mind. He took his cock in his hand as he remembered how she rubbed against him. He pictured her sweet little moans, her pretty doe eyes staring up at him needily. The way she stood so tall on stage when she danced turned him on, and even further knowing he got to see her unravel on top of him. With a final tug, he remembered how tender their kiss was and he came, the shower rinsing everything and flushing it down the drain.

+

The rest of the weekend, Y/N lived in a bubble. She couldn’t really think of anything else but Shawn. She went to work, she ran errands, she worked out, wondering what he may be up to. She wondered what it’d be like if maybe when she was grocery shopping, he was there and held her hand in one and her basket in his other.

Shawn daydreamed. He played guitar, _a lot_. He strummed, hummed some phrases, pictures of Y/N floating. Some of them were her at the restaurant, smiling so sweetly to him and his daughters, some were of the champagne room, how her thighs were shaped, how her thong fit. He went everywhere with her in his head. The grocery store, the park with his kids, he even suggested Hubert’s again for a family dinner in hopes of just seeing her again. As he crawled into bed on Sunday, he hugged his pillow imagining it was her.

+

Y/N yawned, pulling open the heavy school door open. She had both earphones in, her schedule on her phone and walked to her class. She didn’t love school, just because there were so few people she got along with, but she did enjoy classes a lot. This semester, she was looking forward to her concentration classes, as well as her complementary course. It wasn’t some random, stupid useless one like “gender studies” she had to take the previous year. She got lucky during registration and managed to sign herself up for a literature class, a poetry one specifically. She entered the classroom, spotted no one she knew and sat down in the second row. She gathered her hair up into a loose bun, and pulled out her glasses.

Shawn turned away from the elementary school, watching his daughters run in the playground in his rearview mirror. Pulling into a parking spot at the university, he grabbed his bag and set off for the first day of a new semester. After greeting some colleagues and organizing his material, he made his way to his classroom.

“Hi everyone, welcome to Introduction to Poetry. I’m Professor Mendes, but you guys can just call me Shawn.” He gestured, writing his name on the chalkboard.

Y/N glanced up from her doodling and bit her tongue.

“I’m looking forward to working with you guys this semester.” Shawn looked up and scanned the classroom, his eyes stopping at a girl in the second row, middle.

He gulped as Y/N stared back, mirroring his expression of slight shock.

_Fuck._


End file.
